Debunked

“A great many of those who debunk traditional values have in their background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process.” C.S. Lewis

The word debunked is a fitting description of exposing something as false that was previously believed to be true, whether it be a mythical legend or a statement assumed to be a fact in existing historical literature.  The word debunk apparently first appeared in print in William Woodward novel “Bunk” (1923) with the protagonist debunking others’ illusions.  A popular debunking book is Herb Reich’s “Lies They teach You in School” (2012). Astrology and phrenology are examples of so-called scientific theories disproved as pure bunkum (nonsense), as is the myth that ostriches, when scared, stick their heads in the sand.

In “For the People” newsletter historian Joshua Claybourne debunked the contention by Abraham Lincoln biographers Stephen B. Oates (“Our Fiery Trial,” 1979) and David Donald (“Lincoln,” 1995) and others trusting these eminent historians that the sixteenth President loathed the nickname Abe.  The single primary source: recollections by Lincoln’s cousin Dennis Hanks.  Claybourne could find no corroborating evidence and numerous contradictory sources, including an 1864 Dennis Hanks letter to his uncle that began, “Dear Abe.” Lincoln apparently had no issue with the 1860 campaign slogan “Honest Abe” other than concern over living up to his reputation for straightforwardness.  Similarly, most historians once cited a specific estimate for the number of slaves brought to the Americas until it was discovered that they all originated in one unreliable source.

At the IUN Arts and Sciences Student Research Conference David Parnell’s session featured three of his Roman History students and Fine Arts major Neil Gainer, who under Chris Young studied Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre engraving (plagiarized from engraver Henry Pelham) as an example of Patriot propaganda.  Brandon Martens related that estimates of the percentage of plague victims during the second century range widely due to the paucity of hard evidence.  Sylvia Corey, discussing Roman Prostitution, showed images of sex worker stalls at Pompeii, preserved due to the sudden eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Prostitution, involving both males and female clients and sex workers, went underground after Emperor Caligula attempted to tax the brothels and perhaps declined after Constantine’s conversion to Christianity (Parnell was skeptical, having conducted research on Roman army sex workers).  To illustrate her talk, “The Suppression of Women Through Art and Literature in the Early Roman Empire,” Inga Karch used paintings depicting the abduction of Sabine women by the founders of Rome and the rape of noblewoman Lucretia.  According to Roman historian Livy, the first Romans needed women to start families; later the Sabine women intervened to halt a battle between their former tribe and their conquerors.  According to legend, the rape and subsequent suicide of Lucretia led to Rome becoming a republic instead of a kingdom.

 East Chicago league champs, Coach David Lane front, middle

On the final week of bowling I rolled a 470 and the Engineers took 2 games and series to finish fourth (out of 15 teams), a single point behind Duke Cominsky’s Pin Heads.  Congratulating George Leach, who anchored the first place Pin Chasers, I complimented his colorful t-shirt, purchased at a Minnesota Fifties car show.  I have trouble telling identifying present-day models but still recognize vintage Fords, Chevys, Buicks, Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Studebakers, and the like.  “Me, too,”George noted.  Marie Roscoe ran into son Dave at a Hobart-East Chicago Central tennis match, as two granddaughters compete for the Hobart Brickies. They both bowled in the Sunday night “Rowdies” league, where I occasionally subbed and attended end-of-season parties to hear Dave entertain on guitar.  Someone asked teammate Terry Kegebein how he was doing.  He gave his standard answer: “I’m on the right side of the grass.”

 wedding of Bud Hoffman and Agnes Olejnik, later annulled

A few days ago, this email arrived from longtime Region resident Ed LaFleur:

   I’m contacting you about my mother, Agnes Olejnik LaFleur.  She was a contestant in a charity event put on by the Gary Lodge No. 1152 B.P.O. Elks Club, called a SPORTING CLASSIC WALKATHON.  It began in Oct of 1933.  My mother had just turned 22 at that time.  She entered on Oct 27, 1933 and lasted till Dec. 31, at 8 pm that night, for a total of 1492 hours of dancing. She was disqualified because of an infected foot.  Someone had stolen her shoes a few weeks before, and Agnes had to borrow someone else’s, which had a nail sticking thru the sole.   I have her scrapbook, which contains lots of newspaper articles, pictures of contestants, and other memorabilia from that event.  It is literally falling apart.  I have no idea how to preserve this piece of Gary’s history.  I was wondering if you could shed some light on this?

Could I ever!  I told him about the Calumet Regional Archives (CRA) and invited him to visit. When he arrived, I took him to CRA archivist Steve McShane; LaFleur donated many items and promised to return with more.  A scrapbook contained photos and clippings of the dance marathon, with a $750 first prize, big money during the Great Depression.  Several couples, including Agnes, were talked into getting married. Soon afterwards, she had it annulled. I quipped,“I guess they didn’t get a chance to consummate the nuptials on the dance floor or during one of the ten-minute breaks.”  I plan to peruse the clippings, as it seems impossible for couples to have lasted for 1492 hours without considerable respites from the action. After a contestant suffered a heart attack, LaFleur asserted, a medical team disqualified contestants deemed at risk.

 scene from "They Shoot Horse," Jane Fonda in foreground

Alissa arrived from Michigan to attend James’s senior musical, a week after attending with Josh the Dave Davies concert.  Josh heard a Kinks song on a “Med Men” episode.  After I described Agnes Olejnik’s dance marathon experience at breakfast, Toni brought up the 1969 Jane Fonda film “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”  It portrays marathon dancing for what it was, a brutal and exploitative event.  In a rave review critic Roger Ebert wrote:

 Contestants tried to dance their way through illnesses and pregnancies, through lice and hallucinations, and the sight of them doing it was part of the show. Beyond the hit tunes and the crepe paper and the free pig as a door prize, there was an elementary sadism in the appeal of the marathons.  Among American spectator sports, they rank with stock-car racing. There was always that delicious possibility, you see, that somebody would die. Or freak out. Or stand helplessly while his partner collapsed and he lost the investment of hundreds of hours of his life.

 cast of "Cinderella," James Lane third from right

James starred as Lord Pinkleton in the Portage H.S. senior play, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1957 production of “Cinderella,” which differed substantially from the Disney version.  For one thing, a step-sister ended up with a defender of the poor who bore a resemblance to Leon Trotsky.  James shined and appeared in a majority of the scenes. The line he liked best was, “I will be back at 11 with the local weather and sports.”  The play had been postponed several weeks after the stage curtain caught fire.  It snowed Saturday when I attended the performance with Alissa and Phil.  Toni went Friday and Sunday.  After the show we ran into Phil’s high school soccer teammate Randy Marshall, whose daughter was in the chorus. Classmate Tom Cannon is Portage’s interim mayor now that James Snyder was convicted of a felony.  His favorite expression I high school evidently was “How dumb!”  When Phil asked an old friend about Cannon being mayor, the response was. “How dumb!”

In the Ayers Realtors NewsletterJudy Ayers reported on a reunion with “The Girls of ’65,” Wirt grads whose memories include “going to the first day of kindergarten together, Brownies, Girl Scouts, choir practice, church youth groups, high school dances, proms, dates, boyfriends, first jobs . . . and life thereafter.”  Judy wrote:

 Old friends don’t look at you and think you’ve grown old because they’ve grown older, too.  And there sure is a lot of humor in childhood/youthful memories. Just the words Judy Neal, dance, and wristlet flowers when everyone else got corsages can split our sides.  A festooned homecoming float with purloined flashing construction lights should not be paraded down Lake Street.  Cigarettes with filter tips don’t flush fast enough when parents come home earlier than expected.  A college student should never put a fake cast on her foot in order to convince parents she needs her car at college.

In 1918 30 year-old artist Georgia O’Keefe moved to New York City and began posing nude for mentor (and later lover and husband) Alfred Stieglitz. Carolyn Burke wrote: 

 Given the ardor of those early photographs, many assume that they became lovers soon after her arrival.  While it is difficult to imagine them not yielding to their passion, newly released correspondence shows that this was not the case; the excitement palpable in these photographs of O’Keefe owes as much to the frustration of their desires.  Taken into account Alfred’s status as a married man, his fears for her health and possible pregnancy, and his sense that he should wait until she “gave” herself, one can understand that even such ardent souls might agree to the deferral of their desires.

Throughout “Foursome” the author downplays the sexual activities of the Alfred and Elizabeth and Paul and Rebecca when common sense suggests otherwise.

With local elections impending, NWI Times editor Marc Chase is supporting challenger Jerome Prince and doing everything he can to trash Gary mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.  The Post-Tribune, more balanced, ran a letter from city planning director Joseph van Dyk entitled “Gary has come a long way.”  He mentioned removing the eyesore that the old Hotel Sheraton had become as well as many other vacant buildings. He listed stores opening in Miller and near RailCat Stadium and new investments by steel companies.  Improvements at Gary International Airport and plans for development of Buffington Harbor once the casino relocates to a site near the Borman Expressway also hold promise.  I agree with his conclusion that “it would be absolutely devastating for the city to change leadership at this critical time.”

During a marathon 15-inning game in Phoenix that lasted well over five hours, Cubs broadcaster Len Casper told an anecdote about pitcher Tug McGraw, who in 1980 helped the Phillies win their first World Series.  Asked if he preferred grass or Astroturf, hTug replied, “I don’t know, I’ve never smoked Astroturf.” The Cubs triumphed thanks to an unlikely double by pitcher Tyler Chatwood off an old Little League teammate followed by clutch hit by Ben Zobrist.  Canadian women are smoking joints to combat pain and depression.

 President Obama presents Dick Lugar with Presidential Medal of Freedom

Six-term U.S. Senator Richard Lugar passed away at age 87.  He was elected mayor of Indianapolis in 1967, the same day as Richard Hatcher in Gary.  Longtime chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he worked diligently to eliminate nuclear arsenals and was a Republican moderate, now an endangered species.  In the 2012 Republican primary I voted for him in his losing effort against Tea Party mouthpiece Richard Mourdock.  Barack Obama issued this statement:

   We held different political beliefs, but traveling overseas together, Lugar took me under his wing as we toured munitions storage facilities and talked over meals of borscht. Dick always stuck to the facts. He understood the intricacies of America's power and the way words uttered in Washington echo around the globe. But perhaps most importantly, he exhibited the truth that common courtesy can speak across cultures.